Press Ball chairman Ron Kirwan said of the charities that the “invaluable work that they do speaks for itself”.

“We, who are working in the media, are very grateful to those who helped us to raise this money,” he said of the event, which was also sponsored by Specsavers and Heineken.

“The Press Ball continues to have a dual role, as a social event for members of the media in the region and as a fundraiser for deserving local charities and voluntary groups.

“We say every time that we are presenting the money we’ve raised that we wish we could do more, and also that anything we do as a group is completely overshadowed by the work of the charities and voluntary groups.”

Terry Ring of Cliona’s Foundation that provides financial assistance to families who have children undergoing long-term medical treatment for critical illness, said the charity was “delighted to be chosen”.

“To receive €5,000 from a local fundraising event is tremendous to such a small charity as us, we are still in our infancy in one sense, even though a lot of our family applicants are nationwide now,” she said.

“This money goes directly to families who have had a child diagnosed with a terminal illness and it helps with non-medical day to day expenses, to help them in their hour of need.”

Miriam Duffy of Rape Crisis Mid-West said the funds “make such a difference”.

“We have a deficit of around €120,000 every year, between what we get from the government and the actual cost of running the service,” she said.

“When the Press Ball just turn away and do all the work for us and just hand us a cheque so that we really have nothing to do except turn up on a night like tonight and say thank you very much.

“It takes so much time and energy to organise fundraising events and we are really so dependent on the extra voluntary stuff that we get in that people do for us.”

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